It’s safe to say the heavyweight division was in disarray during Jon Jones’ reign as undisputed champion. While Jones held the top spot, Tom Aspinall was left waiting, carrying the interim title for over 550 days without ever getting his long-promised unification bout. In fact, he now holds the record for the longest interim reign in UFC history.
Much of the delay stemmed from Jones’ refusal to face the Englishman, with reasons ranging from a reported $30 million price tag to his eagerness to fight Alex Pereira instead, to the belief that Aspinall wouldn’t add to his legacy. But now that Aspinall has finally claimed the undisputed crown, fans can’t help but wonder, are they about to see history repeat itself, but with a twist?
Tom Aspinall Has No Interest in Wasting His Time on Jon Jones
For those unaware, the UFC is set to host a special event next year at the White House to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence Day. The plan was first announced by Donald Trump and later confirmed by Dana White a few days afterward. Amid the buzz, Jones, who had announced his retirement after UFC Baku, revealed his interest in returning to represent his country on this historic card.
The former champion has since re-entered the UFC’s drug testing pool, recording one test in 2025 so far, signaling his intent to compete. Jones had also made it clear he was willing to face whoever held the heavyweight title on July 4, 2026, including Tom Aspinall. Now, with that possibility on the table, the Englishman has made his stance crystal clear when asked about a future showdown with Jones.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Aspinall appeared to shrug off the idea of fighting Jones at The White House. “It’s just boring, it’s just so boring. It has spent 0 seconds in my mind. I’m not interested, and the world shouldn’t be interested either, because what’s the point? It’s false hope.”
He further expressed disdain for the entire event. “It doesn’t interest me, but it doesn’t really interest me. It would be a cool experience, but I feel like the Americans should get the shot at the White House. I’m not American, Trump and the political stance in America doesn’t bother me at all.”
“I’m not a big Trump supporter or against him, I don’t know anything about American politics,” Aspinall continued. “Not American, don’t live there, don’t do anything there apart from paying taxes and fighting there. So all of that stuff just is irrelevant to me.”
For the unversed, Aspinall is scheduled to defend his undisputed title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. Moreover, it would be his first outing since defending his interim gold last year against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
Tom Aspinall Weighs In on His Biggest Strength and Fires Back at Ciryl Gane’s Coach
Aspinall recently took shots at Fernand Lopez’s recent comments, ahead of his first title defense against Gane in October. The Englishman has vowed to remove the Frenchman from the heavyweight title picture with a dominant performance, and this isn’t the first time the two have been linked. The Englishman has long accused Gane of turning down multiple fight offers in the past.
And Lopez, who coaches the title challenger, recently pushed back on those claims. In a media appearance, he accused Aspinall of lying about the supposed declined offers and pointed out the “immense pressure” Aspinall will face after Jones’s exit from the division.
In the same interview with Ariel Helwani, Aspinall dismissed Lopez’s take. “My response to him is, with all due respect, and I respect coaches so much, especially really high-level coaches. But with all due respect, his opinion is quite irrelevant to the situation.”
The 32-year-old insisted that he thrives when the stakes are high. “That’s great because I fight really well under pressure. There’s the guys who, in the gym, are absolute killers. Absolute world beaters. And they’ll get in a fight, and they’ll just freeze up, and it doesn’t work like it does in the gym.”
The reigning kingpin concluded by saying, “There are other guys, like myself, who are not that good in the gym, but get under the lights with all the chips on the table, and they get in there and do things that they would never be able to do in the gym. That is exactly what I do, and I feel like that’s one of my biggest strengths.”
It is safe to say that Tom Aspinall is currently the face of British MMA, training under his father, Andy, who has built a “heavyweight super camp” from scratch due to the lack of big MMA gyms in the UK. For this fight, Aspinall has even brought in a new addition to his camp, boxing and conditioning coach Stipe Drvis, to prepare for Gane’s slick kickboxing style. It will be interesting to see if Aspinall could take the 265-pounders into a new era or not.
Main image credit: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
